flat-footed

adjective6

1. •
   Of an animal: having feet which are naturally flat; (specifically) of a horse: having hoofs with soles close to the ground.

   • Bears are flat-footed animals.
2. •
   (figurative) Unprepared, unready.

   • They were caught flat-footed when Clancy filed to enter the race.
3. •
   Of a person: having the physical condition of flat feet (“a condition where the soles of the feet are in full contact with the ground, either because the arches have collapsed or because they never developed”).

   • [T]he volunteer from the 9th company was shot because he wouldn't advance and made the excuse that he had swollen legs and was flat-footed. — 1973
4. •
   Of a thing (especially (rail transport) a rail): having a flat base; flat-bottomed.
5. •
   (figurative) Blunt and unsubtle; lacking finesse; clumsy.

   • The thing made a big stir in the town, too, and a good many come out flat-footed and said it was scandalous to separate the mother and the children that way. — 1884
6. •
   (informal, figurative) Direct, downright, straightforward; also, holding firmly to and maintaining a decision; standing one's ground.

   • Now, you need'nt talk 'bout your shoes, kase you see I'm barefooted, I haint got no shoes, tis true, but I stand flat-footed and damn the man who can move me one inch—do you hear that Wolfe! — 1834